Spring Formal
by JessicaL27
Summary: Olivia doesn't want to go to the spring dance. At least until Asher shows up at her door.
1. Chapter 1

Work Text:

Olivia decided she wasn't going to the spring dance. She was happy and relieved that Layla was getting help and that Layla and Spencer were solid. Jordan was going with some girl or would end up hanging out with the team. She just didn't have the energy to go and pretend to be happy after Chris had broken up with her. Between that and her parents she was exhausted.

She told Layla that she would meet everyone at the restaurant later. She even set a dress out and pretended like she was going to go. Right before Spencer left, she told him the truth. He had tried to convince her to come, but he respected that she just wanted to stay home.

When Layla asked where Olivia was, Spencer told them all she had decided to stay home.

"Wait, Liv isn't coming?" Asher asked.

"No, she just didn't feel up to it," Spencer told him.

Asher walked away from the group looking upset. Spencer walked over to him sensing something was off.

"The only reason I came tonight was to hang out with Liv," Asher told him. "We haven't spent much time together lately, and I wanted to talk to her."

"Did you tell her this?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe I should have. But I didn't want to make things weird between us."

He looked around the room and realized that it wasn't right she wasn't there. She deserved to have some fun. "I'm going to go get her."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No. You stay here and take care of Layla. I'll take care of Olivia."

He jumped in his car and headed over to the Baker's. When he rang the doorbell Olivia answered. She looked surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Come to the dance with me."

"What?" She asked, somewhat shocked that he was standing at her door. She had to admit, he looked nice dressed up.

"Asher, no, I'm not going."

"Why not?" He asked, as he pushed his way into Olivia's house.

"I just needed a night off. I've been so busy lately that a night watching tv sounds nice."

He wasn't buying it. "Try again."

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, Liv. What's the real reason you don't want to go?"

"I don't know," she sighed, realizing Asher wasn't going to let this go. "I mean... Chris broke up with me. He said he didn't need any distractions. And-"

"Wait, he said that?" He said, cutting Olivia off. "Liv. You're not a distraction."

"Yeah, I know. He didn't mean it that way. Anyway, I just didn't want to go tonight and be by myself. I thought it would be too hard."

"Then go with me. Come on, Liv, we'll have fun. We can dance or we can just sit and talk. Whatever you want."

"You want to go with me?"

"Yeah, of course. The whole reason why I wanted to go tonight was to see you. I wanted to hang out with you. And, I don't want you sitting at home alone while everyone else is at this dance."

She thought for a second. Maybe going with Asher was okay. They hadn't talked much lately, and she did miss him. And honestly she knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Ok."

He smiled. "Ok? Like ok you'll go with me?"

"Yes, I'll go," she said. She smiled... she couldn't help it. And she couldn't believe that Asher was the one standing here convincing her to go.

She ran upstairs to get ready and a few minutes later she was walking down the stairs.

When Asher saw her, he was completely mesmerized. She was always beautiful, but now, standing in front of him in this dress... "Wow," he said, finally snapping out of his thoughts. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she said, a little unsure. Was this weird? It was Asher, and she couldn't have feelings for Asher, right?

"Ready to go?" he asked, sensing she might be getting nervous.

She nodded. "You look nice, too," she told him as they walked out the door.

After a short drive, the two arrived at the dance. She paused at the door before he took her hand. "Come on," he said. "Tonight it's just you and me, ok?"

She nodded.

"If you get tired or want to leave early we can."

"Thanks, Asher. I'm glad you're with me."

As soon as they walked in Layla ran over and pulled Olivia away. Asher couldn't help but stare at Olivia, and Spencer noticed.

"So when are you gonna tell her?"

It was the same question JJ asked him a few weeks ago. He wasn't ready to admit it then, but he was now. He was in love with Olivia.

"Later," he said. "Tonight she needs a friend."

"Just don't hurt her, okay? She's not as strong as everyone thinks."

Asher knew this better than anyone. But he was also somewhat surprised that Spencer seemed to be in his corner. The two hadn't agreed on much since they became teammates, but they both cared for Olivia. He knew he didn't need Spencer's blessing, but he appreciated it.

He looked over at her again. He was so lucky that they were able to overcome everything and get to this place. He would never hurt her again. His main focus now was showing how much he loved her. And how much she deserved to be loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The dance was almost over, and Asher had left Olivia for just a second to hang out with Jordan and JJ. He didn't want to leave Olivia, but she was talking to Spencer so he thought it was okay.

"So tell me how Asher convinced you to come tonight?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, he showed up and basically wouldn't leave until I said I would come. So I just thought it would be easier to just say yes," she joked. "But I'm glad I came."

He caught her looking over at Asher. "You know he really wanted you to come."

She nodded. "I know. It's just... complicated."

"It doesn't seem that complicated if you asked me."

She shot him a warning look. She did not want to talk about her feelings with Asher here. Her feelings scared her, and she was trying to enjoy the rest of the night.

Asher headed back over to Olivia and asked if she was about ready to head out. She nodded. "See you at home, Spencer."

She was quiet on the way home, and eventually she fell asleep. She was just so tired from worrying about Layla and Jordan and her parents. When Asher parked his car at her house, he looked over, and he almost didn't want to wake her. She looked so peaceful. But he also couldn't sit in the Bakers' driveway all night.

"Hey, Liv," he said quietly, gently touching her shoulder. "We're home."

"Oh. Sorry I fell asleep. I guess I was just really tired."

"It's okay. You're really cute when you're sleeping." As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Way to make things awkward, Asher, he thought to himself.

"Thanks," she said, somewhat embarrassed.

He walked her to the door, and then told her that he had a nice time tonight. "I'm really glad you came."

"I did have fun tonight. It was nice to hang out with you." Did she sound as awkward as she felt?

He couldn't take the awkwardness anymore. "God, Liv, what are we doing? I like you, and I think you like me, or am I completely imagining this thing between us?"

"Ash..." She couldn't do this tonight. She needed time to process all of this. "You're not imagining it. But I need time."

"Yeah. Of course. I didn't mean to pressure you."

"Can I come over tomorrow? After practice? We can talk then?"

He smiled. "Sure. I'll text you when we're done with practice."

She opened the door to go inside, and before he left he told her one more time how beautiful she was.

"Goodnight, Asher."

He got in his car and drove halfway home before he realized he couldn't wait until tomorrow. He turned around and drove back to Olivia's. By this time she was sitting on the couch with Spencer watching TV when the doorbell rang.

She was surprised to see Asher yet again standing at her front door. "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah, this," he said, stepping closer to her and pulling her into a kiss. She was shocked and she pulled away after a few seconds.

"What are you doing? We said we would wait until tomorrow."

"We said we would talk tomorrow. You never said anything about kissing."

She was not amused by his joke. "Ash..."

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm leaving. I just decided that that couldn't wait until tomorrow. I needed to show you how I feel."

He started walking away again. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was racing. And against her better judgement, she ran after him.

"Asher," she yelled. He turned around and she ran to him. This time she kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his arms found their way to her waist,

Oh he wanted to keep going. So did she. But it couldn't go any further until they talked. Really talked about everything.

"I thought we were waiting," he said.

"We are. This was just a thank you for tonight."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded.

"We'll figure this out, Liv. Everything. I promise."

He watched her walk back into her house, and realized how fast his heart was racing. Olivia Baker had really done a number on him. If he didn't think he was in love before, he knew now that without a doubt he was in love with her.


	3. Chapter 3

When Olivia woke up the next morning she thought for a minute that she had been dreaming. She didn't really go to the dance with Asher and then kiss him. Did she?

She looked over at her phone and saw she had a message from Asher confirming that she would be over later today. She sighed. Last night was definitely real. And she didn't know what to do.

When she went downstairs Spencer was already up eating breakfast. She sat down next to him at the table not saying anything. He finally couldn't take the silence anymore. "You okay?"

She didn't really know how to answer that. "Um... yeah.. I guess. I've just got a lot going on."

He gave her a look. He knew she wasn't telling him the truth, and she knew he wasn't going to drop it. "I'm going over to Asher's after your practice is over. To talk."

"And do you know what your going to say?"

She shook her head. "I think... I think I want to be with him, but I don't know if I can."

He was so confused at this point. "Wait, let me see if I understand. You like him. He came over here after the dance was over just to kiss you—"

"Wait, how did you—"

"I saw you. You were standing right in front of the door. It wasn't like you all were trying to hide. Anyway, from where I'm standing you both like each other. So what's the problem?"

She stood up and walked away from the table, tears starting to form in her eyes. "If I tell you... will you promise not to say anything? Especially not to Layla? Or Jordan?"

"Yeah. Olivia, you know you can talk to me."

She came back to the table and again set beside Spencer who was starting to get worried about her. "Asher's Jordan's best friend. Because of that Asher has been a big part of my life. He was always around... and I started to like him."

She paused for a second to collect herself. "But then he started dating Layla, and I buried my feelings. I told myself it was better that way. That we would never work anyway because he probably only saw me as his best friend's sister."

She wiped away a few tears from her face. "Then one night when I was high I gave into my feelings. When I came back from rehab, I agreed with him that it was a mistake. Because that's what he thought it was. A mistake."

"So I buried my feelings again. But now he's telling me he likes me and it's what I thought I wanted. But what if he changes his mind? I don't want to get hurt. And I don't want to hurt Layla or Jordan, either."

"Whoa, stop, ok?" Spencer couldn't take this anymore. "You kept all of this to yourself? No wonder you're going crazy."

She gave a small smile. "Yeah. I didn't really have anyone to talk to."

"Listen, talk to Asher. Tell him all of this. And, Olivia? For what it's worth I can tell that he does really like you."

"Since when did you become Asher's biggest supporter?"

"I just want you to be happy. You always look out for everyone else, and you need to do what makes you happy. Come here," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Plus, if he ever hurts you I'll kill him."

She laughed. "Thanks for always being on my side."

—-

Olivia checked her hair and makeup one last time before walking up to Asher's house. She was so nervous, but she tried to calm herself by thinking about what Spencer told her. She just needed to tell Asher how she felt.

He answered the door and he told her to have a seat on the couch. He brought her some water, and asked her if she wanted anything to eat. She said no as she was way to nervous to eat.

He sat down next to her realizing he was nervous, too. What if she had changed her mind? What if she didn't want to be together?"

She broke him out of his thoughts by asking how practice went. "It was good," he said, before realizing he just needed to come out and ask her how she was feeling. He didn't want small talk.

"Liv, about last night-"

"Did you change your mind?"

"What? No, of course not. I feel the same way I did last night." But wait. Is that what she was afraid of? Him changing his mind and not wanting to be with her?

"I'm not changing my mind. I want to be with you."

"The thing is, Asher, I want to be with you, too, but I'm scared." She blurted out everything she told Spencer. About how she didn't want to hurt anyone else. How she had buried her feelings for him. And how she was scared of getting hurt. After she finished she somewhat expected him to run away, but he was still there sitting right beside her.

"Wow," he said, kind of surprised. "Ok, first of all, I wish I had known that you liked me when we were younger. Because I liked you, too. I just thought you only saw me as Jordan's friend. I just accepted that we were never going to be more than friends."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I really never thought you liked me. But, Asher, after that night... you said we were a mistake."

"No," he said, reaching over to hold her hand. "That night was a mistake. Our first time shouldn't have been like that."

His heart hurt to know he had caused her this pain. He never wanted to hurt her. He realized he had apologized to almost everyone about that night. Layla, Jordan... he'd even apologized to Spencer, and he didn't know him then. But he had never apologized to Olivia.

"I'm sorry. I should have seen that you needed help, and I should have never..." he trailed off, realizing he was starting to cry. He took his hand away from Olivia to wipe the tears from his eyes. "When Jordan told me what happened.. how he found you..."

"It's okay," she said, reaching for his hand back. "You had your own issues. And you got through them. I'm really proud of you, Ash."

"We're not a mistake. You're the most important person in my life, and I want to be with you."

She smiled, finally accepting that this was going to happen. This is what she wanted. "I want that, too."

He leaned in and kissed her. It was even better than last night because he knew exactly how she felt. He deepened the kiss, and he ran his hands through her hair. He wanted to keep doing this forever, but his phone went off. He reluctantly broke off his kiss to check his phone. "It's Spencer. He says a bunch of guys are meeting up for dinner."

Olivia's phone then chimed, and she grabbed it out of her purse. "It's Layla. She's telling me to come to dinner with you all."

Then Olivia's phone chimed again, and this time it was Spencer. "Spencer said only to come to dinner tonight if we were finished working through our issues."

"Wait, you told Spencer?"

"Yeah. He saw us last night, and then this morning he could see I was worried. He was the one who convinced me to tell you how I felt."

"I'm glad he was there for you. But from now on, you can talk to me. I want you to talk to me."

"I will. Also, Spencer said if you ever hurt me he'd kill you."

He laughed. "I can live with that. Because I'm never going to hurt you. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, pulling him into another kiss.

After a minute, she pulled away. "We're going to be late for dinner."

"Okay," he said, reluctantly, grabbing his keys. He honestly just wanted to stay at home with her. He wasn't ready to share her yet as they had just realized their feelings and had a lot of time to make up. He also realized that he was going to have to tell Jordan. But Asher could deal with whatever happened next because he was with the woman he loved.


	4. Chapter 4

The entire night all Asher wanted to do was be with Olivia. They way she smiled and laughed with Layla. The way her face lit up when she looked over and realized Asher was looking at her. It was almost too much for him. It took everything he had not to go over and kiss her. But he couldn't. Not until they told Jordan.

"So are you two good?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, we're good," he said, smiling. "We just can't be together in public yet until Jordan knows. And that's going to be a fun conversation. He almost killed me last year when he found out about us."

"Yeah, but that was different."

"Not sure it matters," he said, his smile fading.

"Hey, listen, I kind of accidentally told Layla. I know wasn't my place, but—"

"How did you accidentally tell her?"

"She kind of already knew. She saw the way you all were at the dance, and she knows you two have been spending time together. When she asked if you all were together, I didn't want to lie."

"How'd she take it?" He was worried about ex-girlfriend. He knew Layla had had a rough time, and he didn't want to make things worse for her. And he didn't want to come between Olivia and Layla again.

"She's okay. Really."

At least that was one less awkward conversation he would have to have, he thought. He decided to go over and check things out for himself. When he went over, he realized that Olivia and Layla were just talking about him.

"So, Asher, it turns out Spencer can't keep his mouth shut."

"Don't blame Spencer," Layla told him. "I already knew. I figured it out the dance." She looked over at Spencer and decided to go spend some time with him so she told Asher and Olivia she would see them at school and Olivia gave her a hug.

"Is she really fine with us?"

"Yeah. I think so. She said she wants me to be happy... and I am," she said, her fingers brushing over his hand.

He looked down and then wrapped her hand in his. He looked back up and just studied her face for a second. He swore she was even more beautiful now than at the dance.

"What?" She asked, wondering why he was staring.

"I just like looking at you."

She smiled but could feel herself blushing. She wasn't used to hearing these kind of things. But she looked over and saw Jordan coming over and she pulled her hand away from Asher's.

"Asher," Jordan said, "Some of are headed over to JJ's. We're bored here. Wanna come?"

"No, man, I'm good. Liv and I were about to go back to my place."

"We were studying before we came," Olivia added quickly.

"Yeah, we were studying. We've got a test," Asher said. "But she left her car at my house so I need to take her back to get it." Did he sound nervous? He felt nervous. He couldn't keep lying to Jordan.

"Okay," Jordan said, thinking something was off. "Well, I'll see you at home, Liv."

"Wait," Asher said before Jordan left. "Do you want to meet before school tomorrow? We could get some practice in."

"Yeah. Sure. Text me what time you want to meet."

After he left, Asher and Olivia broke out into laughter. "We're so bad at this," Olivia said. "I'm not used to lying to him."

"I know. But you won't have to do it for very much longer. I want to tell him tomorrow. That's why I asked him to meet. If that's okay with you?"

"Are you sure? I could tell him. I mean, I'm his sister. He can't be too mad at me."

"I think I need to tell him. He needs to know that my feelings for you are real. I just hope he doesn't punch me this time."

"Yeah, me, too," she said, quietly.

He didn't want her to get upset. They would deal with whatever happened with Jordan later. He suggested they get out of there, and she agreed that she wanted to go home. When they got back to his house, he walked her to her car but wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. She was standing against her car, and he gently put one hand on her waist and the other cupped her face. He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back more passionately than before. Their bodies moved together perfectly in sync. Asher knew they were perfect together.

He reluctantly stopped kissing her, but remained pressed up against her. "I love you, Liv," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Asher."

"I guess I should let you go now."

She nodded. "Let me know how tomorrow goes."

"I will," he said, letting his hands drop from her body and moving away so she could get in her car. He watched her drive away feeling sad that she was gone, but happier than he had been in a long time because he finally had someone who loved him that same way he loved them.

That good mood was short lived though. Not long after Olivia left Asher heard a loud banging on his door. When Asher opened the door, he saw Jordan standing there looking furious.

"Are you sleeping with my sister again?"


End file.
